Lectern – Precept Of Delator-album review 7.5/10 \m/

Lectern

Precept Of Delator

Released: September 23, 2016

Today we look at “Precept Of Delator” the latest release by the Old School Death metal band Lectern. This one has a massive dose of old school death, for fans of that style you may want to keep reading and check out the album stream at the bottom.

Gergal Profaner has an old school death feel right out of the gates, and I like that. I instantly know what I am about to get myself into with this one. And fuck am I pleased with the opening track. In a world full of so many different sub genres it’s nice to hear the bands locking up that old school feel still. Really taking that iconic FL death metal sound from the early 90’s. Italy’s Lectern do that and then some on this album. Before you make it to the thirty second mark, you have already gone through a few tempo changes, but the riffs hook you. Right around the halfway point the song has a bit of a set up for some drums and then a guitar solo which gives way to more blast beats, and then the song keeps adding more on. This song has so much to offer but I am really digging the transition that happens around the 2:30 mark. They have this moment where the song comes back around and then they steam roll right back into the last verse of rolling double bass death.

Palpation Of Sacramentarian begins with a sound clip that is slightly ominous as it sounds like an abandoned building with random noises echoing throughout the empty carcass of a concrete structure. But I like the way the guitar lays down a very short riff, and a pause before the rest of the band comes in all at once with a heavier riff paving the way for more chugging riffs, and the occasional blast beat. This is an album you can easily find the groove and head bang to. This song is almost a solid two minutes longer than the previous track and has already packed in a lot considering. I am most impressed by the old school sound they pull off. For having formed in 1999, they really do a great job on this. Even adding that sound clip around the halfway point of the song, that sounded like chains or shackles.

Fluent Bilocation this song sounds like something falling and doing a little bit of a rattle around the ground before the vocals come in with a bit of effect to them and then they settle down into an old school slower tempo death metal vibe. The first verse has a good amount of build up to it around the :45 second mark. They hit a peak right there in the verse and add some blast beats and a catchy riff before going back into the next verse. This is a solid song, not much roof for fluff either, they keep it pretty trim, but they do throw a guitar solo in around 2:54 mark that takes the listener on a short ride before they come back into the last verse of the song.

Distil Shambles begins with a fast riff and a few notes to set up the first verse. As the song really begins to unfold, I appreciate their old school flavor that they stay loyal to. I mean in a day where it’s cool to be old school sounding, but bands still add a modern flare to the music. They don’t really do that, they keep things simple, and keep it old school through and through. They do a great job with this song keeping everything moving right along but still maintaining that old school groove to it. The thing I like the most about this song is that it has me consistently head banging to it. It’s got a groove about it, which you lock right into and feel the music for the duration of the song.

Pellucid begins with some sort of chanting sermon style sound clip, but only for about twenty seconds before a chugging riff sets in and then the song rolls into the first verse. Not a bad song by any means, but out of the entire album this is the one song I just didn’t get into as much as the others. I’m not about to say the song is not good or that it is bad. It just didn’t affect me the same way the previous tracks have. But for best results you should listen to it and form your own opinion.

Diptych Of Perked Oblation has the song locked in from the first chugging riff, the slow but steady build up, just waiting to unleash the old school battery of death metal. This is a song that brings me back to when I first started getting into death metal. This is exactly what you would hear on a CD back in the day. A simple but bad ass set up, no fluff just playing and you know the band are all mean mugging while playing that bit. It’s one of the characteristics that I find to be enjoyable. The changes are subtle, but the riffs are the best part of this song I would say. They stay in the zone and continue to deliver tone and riffs that are appealing. I am not ready to say this is my favorite song yet, but damn I have listened to this one a lot. Especially that guitar solo at the 3:00 minute mark. It has a different tone than I was expecting and it made it that much better for me. I must admit the first time I heard it, it threw me off because I really wasn’t expecting that sound. But hey it works, and now I am ready for the next track.

Garn For Debitors is the shortest track on the album, and it packs everything into that 2:15 long brief song. The beginning is a barrage of blast beats that paves way for a more steady and direct roll from the double bass and heavy riffing. This song is a good addition to the album because it really continues to push that old school death metal style. But I feel like there was something more I wanted from this song. Its great but it’s not exactly what I had been expecting. I like the energy it has from the beginning but I felt like there was something flat about it by the end of the song.

Precept Of Delator the beginning has a cool introduction of what seems like some ominous ambience with chanting and then the song really kicks off musically around the :25 second mark . By the time the vocals coming in you have had about a second or more of a steady double bass roll and the tempo is a bit on the slower side of things. But that does not take away from how heavy this track is. I personally like this one a lot because it has a groove about it in the guitars, and then the old school flavor adds so much to the mix. It’s the simplicity and then the actual intensity of how heavy they are that really mixes well. This song is solid and you will find yourself head banging from start to finish, not to mention they throw in a little guitar solo around the 3:31 mark that seems a little one dimensional, but I feel as if they almost do that on purpose to match the old school sound. Either way whoever is playing the solo they don’t seem to push out of their comfort zone as much as I would have liked to hear.

Discorporation With Feral is the album ender, and they brought it all together to wrap the album up on a heavy htting note. They do a great job with this track because it is so straight to the point. This track is exactly what you will want to hear at the end of this album, and it is exactly what you expect to hear also. I like the fact that these guys did not under deliver, don’t get me wrong, they also didn’t over deliver. They didn’t go over the top with things, or re-invent the wheel. They play old school death metal, and made an album that is exactly that. old school death metal and it works, it sounds great even the production quality sounds a bit old school, not bad like they decided to save some money and cut corners. No they make it sound like some of the classic death metal albums you love

One last thing I want to point out is the killer album artwork, I know I don’t point out the artwork every time but it is still something I look at. Growing up metal artwork was always something that appealed to me, something I was fascinated with, because not all albums had the same caliber artwork. This album art is exactly what I would come to expect, from the old school death metal sound they pair it with old school death artwork. When it comes to meal albums the artwork is the first thing you notice (if you haven’t heard the album) and it does trigger an impulse inside of you on whether or not it looks like you might like it. With this artwork, there is no mystery on what it’s going to sound like. To me that is some great album artwork, because it also sells the album. If there was single blade of grass for the artwork, you would have no idea what type of metal, and what to expect. But this has demonic characters, pentagrams, ritualistic depictions etc.

When all is said and done, the album is solid, no matter how many times I have spun it, and how many times I have listened to something and thought maybe I need to listen to it again. The album doesn’t change for me, it’s a solid album but may not satisfy every metal heads tastes. 7.5/10 \m/